The present invention relates to folded cartons having dispensing means and to a blank from which such cartons can be made. Known folded cartons which have dispensing means are usually provided with a pouring beak or lip which can be produced by suitably deforming one of the walls of the carton, or they have a slide which either exposes or covers a dispensing aperture. Fully automatic production of such folded cartons involves considerable difficulties, particularly if the displaceable or deformable portions have to be made separately and thereafter must be connected to the main body of the box. Storage and despatch of the partially constructed cartons, such as those in which the body portions are glued together but the end flaps are not sealed so that the carton can be flattened, is made much more difficult if pouring channels produced by deforming the folded carton are present. The terminal positions of the displaceable parts which expose and cover the dispensing aperture are not sufficiently well defined in known folded cartons to ensure correct functioning. This is particularly true of the closing of a carton in which the dispensing aperture is regularly used, for example, when the carton contains tablets. Finally, it is extremely difficult to provide displaceable parts to form the dispensing aperture so that not only the aperture may be satisfactorily closed but also that it can be immediately ascertained whether the carton has already been broached.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a folded carton having a dispensing aperture so that the carton can be easily made by fully automatic processes. Moreover, it is a further object of the invention to provide a blank for a carton such that the carton can be easily stored and can be easily opened and securely closed when desired.
According to the present invention there is provided a folded carton having dispensing means, wherein said dispensing means comprises a displaceable slide which has two terminal positions, in the first of which it exposes a dispensing aperture and in the second, covers the dispensing aperture, the slide being connected by a fold to a link portion, the link portion being connected by a fold to a wall portion of the carbon which is non-displaceable in a direction parallel to the plane of the slide, the slide being displaceable between portions of the carton which are capable of elastic displacement in a direction transverse to the plane of the slide.
By so doing, the slide is connected by means of the link to the body of the box. This makes manufacture of the carton relatively simple since it is therefore possible to make the carton from a single, integral blank. When the carton is in its closed position, the parts forming the dispensing device lie flat one upon the other, so that normal stacking of the blank or of the flattened, partially constructed, carton is possible. When the dispensing aperture is in use, the link, and consequently the slide, are each retained by elastic forces in a definite terminal position, hence the dispensing device remains in a usable position for as long as desired. The slide and the dispensing aperture may be covered by a tear-off flap on the unused box. Whilst this flap is present, it means that the carton has not been opened.
The invention will be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :